Quote:
Originally Posted by pacem
IF you are blind, would you have visual hallucinations? If you were deaf, would you hear voices? If you have lost your sense of smell, would you have olfactory hallucinations? I'm sure there's a sensible answer, I just don't know what it is.
|
the blind dream:
http://van.physics.uiuc.edu/qa/listing.php?id=765
_________________
and you can smell w/o a properly working olfactory gland
http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=96615
Smell & Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Dresden Medical School, Dresden, Germany.
Basile.Landis@hcuge.ch
The nature of qualitative olfactory disorders such as phantosmia and parosmia is a matter of debate. Parosmia and phantosmia mainly occur in combination with post-traumatic or post-infectious olfactory loss. Rare causes of these disorders such as brain tumors, side-effects of drugs, paraneoplastic syndromes, psychiatric disorders or intracerebral haemorrhage have been reported. Parosmias are distorted sensations of smell elicited by an odor, whereas phantosmias persist permanently or occur without the presence of an odor source. Phantosmias differ widely in terms of their nature. In contrast, parosmias always seem to be unpleasant. We report the case of a female with post-infectious hyposmia who reported a pleasant parosmia to selected odorants. We have called this rare clinical presentation euosmia.
PMID: 16308262 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
http://tinyurl.com/5a3gvy
You Smell!: A Look into Olfactory Hallucinations
Carolyn Dahlgren
If you were to take a poll asking people to name which of the five senses that they could most easily live without, I am willing to bet that the sense of smell would be many people's top choice. There are, however, many people who do live without the sense of smell; just like a blind person lives without sight or a deaf person without sound. Anosmia is a condition that occurs when a person lacks the sense of smell. Dysfunctions of the sense of smell can be congenital. A number of different diseases, conditions, and medications can lead to olfactory disturbances. It may also occur for other reasons; "A number of different diseases, conditions, and medications can lead to olfactory disturbances. Major causes of olfactory dysfunction: obstructive nasal and sinus diseases, upper respiratory viral infections, head trauma, and in 22% of cases no cause is ever found (idiopathic)" 1.
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1823